Saint-Brieuc

How can urban development adapt to the unique topography of a city that is both close to and distant from the sea?

First, by putting proximity to the sea into perspective and opening the city up to the landscapes of its three valleys.
“Radar maps” show the impact of valley management on the visual perception of the landscape; they compare the amplitude of the view in the past (early 20th century), the present and the future (after selective clearing).#cut
Clearing the hillsides provides a view of and access to the landscape and sets in motion a virtuous cycle of material recovery: the wood from valley forest management can be used for the temporary development of public spaces at lower cost.
This project thus combines perceptive, physical, temporal and economic approaches to the landscape.
Three types of sites amplify the city-landscape relationship:
— public spaces in the historic centre linking the train station and the port;
— belvedere sites overlooking the valleys which link the city and the valleys;
— three estuaries, described as “blockage” sites.
The estuaries in particular could serve as transitional sites between land and sea, but are currently home to a landfill, a sewage treatment plant and a polluted brownfield site, all of which bear witness to profound ecological dysfunction.
The project will create depolluting parks, foreshadow future uses and reinforce the area’s exceptional relationship with the bay.